Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members: ·gain from each other's efforts. (Your success benefits me and my success benefits you.) ·recognize that all group members share a common fate. (We all sink or swim together here.) ·know that one's performance is mutually caused by oneself and one's team members. (We can not do it without you.) ·feel proud and jointly celebrate when a group member is recognized for achievement. (We all congratulate you on your accomplishment!). Why use Cooperative Learning? Elements of Cooperative Learning Class Activities that use Cooperative Learning
Why use Cooperative Learning? Research has shown that cooperative learning techniques: ·promote student learning and academic achievement ·increase student retention ·enhance student satisfaction with their learning experience ·help students develop skills in oral communication ·develop students' social skills ·promote student self-esteem ·help to promote positive race relations 5 Elements of Cooperative Learning It is only under certain conditions that cooperative efforts may be expected to be more productive than competitive and individualistic efforts. Those conditions are:
1. Positive Interdependence
(sink or swim together)
Each group member's efforts are required and indispensable for group success
Each group member has a unique contribution to make to the joint effort because of his or her resources and/or role and task responsibilities
2. Face-to-Face Interaction
(promote each other's success)
Orally explaining how to solve problems
Teaching one's knowledge to other
Checking for understanding
Discussing concepts being learned
Connecting present with past learning
3. Individual
&
Group Accountability
( no hitchhiking! no social loafing)
Keeping the size of the group small. The smaller the size of the group, the greater the individual accountability may be.
Giving an individual test to each student.
Randomly examining students orally by calling on one student to present his or her group's work to the teacher (in the presence of the group) or to the entire class.
Observing each group and recording the frequency with which each member-contributes to the group's work.
Assigning one student in each group the role of checker. The checker asks other group members to explain the reasoning and rationale underlying group answers.
Having students teach what they learned to someone else.
4. Interpersonal &
Small-Group Skills
Social skills must be taught:
Leadership
Decision-making
Trust-building
Communication
Conflict-management skills
5. Group Processing
Group members discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships
Describe what member actions are helpful and not helpful
Make decisions about what behaviors to continue or change
Class Activities that use Cooperative Learning Most of these structures are developed by Dr. Spencer Kagan and his associates at Kagan Publishing and Professional Development. For resources and professional development information on Kagan Structures, please visit: http://www.kaganonline.com/
1. Jigsaw - Groups with five students are set up. Each group member is assigned some unique material to learn and then to teach to his group members. To help in the learning students across the class working on the same sub-section get together to decide what is important and how to teach it. After practice in these "expert" groups the original groups reform and students teach each other. (Wood, p. 17) Tests or assessment follows.
2. Think-Pair-Share - Involves a three step cooperative structure. During the first step individuals think silently about a question posed by the instructor. Individuals pair up during the second step and exchange thoughts. In the third step, the pairs share their responses with other pairs, other teams, or the entire group.
3. Three-Step Interview (Kagan) -Each member of a team chooses another member to be a partner. During the first step individuals interview their partners by asking clarifying questions. During the second step partners reverse the roles. For the final step, members share their partner's response with the team.
Communicator
Manager
Tracker
Checker
Coach
Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it.
Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members:
· gain from each other's efforts. (Your success benefits me and my success benefits you.)
· recognize that all group members share a common fate. (We all sink or swim together here.)
· know that one's performance is mutually caused by oneself and one's team members. (We can not do it without you.)
· feel proud and jointly celebrate when a group member is recognized for achievement. (We all congratulate you on your accomplishment!).
Why use Cooperative Learning?
Elements of Cooperative Learning
Class Activities that use Cooperative Learning
Why use Cooperative Learning?
Research has shown that cooperative learning techniques:
· promote student learning and academic achievement
· increase student retention
· enhance student satisfaction with their learning experience
· help students develop skills in oral communication
· develop students' social skills
· promote student self-esteem
· help to promote positive race relations
5 Elements of Cooperative Learning
It is only under certain conditions that cooperative efforts may be expected to be more productive than competitive and individualistic efforts. Those conditions are:
(sink or swim together)
(promote each other's success)
&
Group Accountability
( no hitchhiking! no social loafing)
Small-Group Skills
Class Activities that use Cooperative Learning
Most of these structures are developed by Dr. Spencer Kagan and his associates at Kagan Publishing and Professional Development. For resources and professional development information on Kagan Structures, please visit: http://www.kaganonline.com/
1. Jigsaw - Groups with five students are set up. Each group member is assigned some unique material to learn and then to teach to his group members. To help in the learning students across the class working on the same sub-section get together to decide what is important and how to teach it. After practice in these "expert" groups the original groups reform and students teach each other. (Wood, p. 17) Tests or assessment follows.